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Global Intelligence

What…is Global Intelligence?
GI is the critical external environment information and insight any organization needs to chart the clearest path to success. If your organization wants to illuminate its playing field, then our Global Intelligence services can help you understand the industry, the markets, the countries, the competitors, and the customers at a level that will drive effective strategies.

Why…is Global Intelligence Valuable?
In today's global economy, having sufficient intelligence about the external environment can be critical to success and the effective use of resources. Yet, organizations are often faced with either too much information about external drivers or not enough. Both situations can hamper decision makers who know they need "knowledge diligence" in a timely manner.

Who…Receives this Value?
Organization decision makers, from the "C" level to a sales force, all need to know how to best navigate market, competitive, and industry forces in pursuit of success. Moreover, the intelligence-driven organization can deliver further value to its partners, whether they provide essential services or jointly face the customers.

Where…can you Apply this Value?
Global Intelligence practices can be applied to any area of your organizational needs, from strategy, to operations, HR, R&D, and sales and marketing. Our reach extends to over 140 countries around the globe--from Brazil to Russia, India to China, from Europe to Latin America.

How… is this Value Provided?
Your organization's unique intelligence needs will be met by TLCN's extensive faculty expertise and thought leadership in Global Intelligence, as well through as an extended and valuable global network of business and country information sources.

Business Cases and Thought Pieces

Using the Cultural Orientation Indicator® to Drive More Effective Elicitation Strategies Across the Globe

Does your company have customers from other countries? Suppliers? Competitors? Are you increasingly operating in a global competitive intelligence environment?

Of course the answer is “yes” for virtually every company these days. And one result is that CI practitioners working for such companies find themselves having to elicit intelligence from people all over the world. This is tough enough, even for CI’ers who are truly global citizens, but it can be a tall order for those used to working primarily within their own cultural environs.
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The Global BI/CI Corner: BI/CI--Putting the "Aim" back into "Ready, Aim, Fire!"

Growing up watching adventure films, I soon had visions of riding steeds, crossing swords, and firing arrows at the villains, just like my on-screen heroes. I didn't have a horse or a fencing master, so I took up archery with visions of one day splitting an arrow in half, just like Robin Hood.
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The Global BI/CI Corner: What does the term, "Business Intelligence" Mean?

I have often been asked, "why do you call your MBA class, 'business intelligence'? I'm confused about what that means." Why is that? Well, since the term is not trademarked, it has come to be used in several ways. It surfaced in the early 1980's in articles from leading external analysis gurus such as Jan Herring, who set up Motorola's internal "CIA," and Ben Gilad, who's first book on external analysis was entitled, "The Business Intelligence System."
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The Global BI/CI Corner: What's the Difference between Market Research and Business and Competitive Intelligence? Learn from how Toys R Us tried to enter Sweden

BI/CI is often still confused with market research. Indeed, several BI/CI experts have addressed the differences, beginning with Ben Gilad in his groundbreaking 1988 book, "The Business Intelligence System," and most recently by CI thought leader Ken Sawka in a 2005 article in Competitive Intelligence Magazine. Intelligence gurus see the differences as largely around scope and timeframe, with market research as a current time-focused, highly quantitative look at markets and customers, while BI/CI is generally more qualitative, more future-oriented, and is focused on other external factors.
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The Global BI/CI Corner: "Six Degrees of Separation," Camp David, and Tom Sawyer

What do the famous play, "Six Degrees of Separation," the US president's famous retreat at Camp David, Maryland, and the quintessential American fictional character Tom Sawyer have in common? Lessons for finding and leveraging key human sources of intelligence, that's what.
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